Best programs to become a first-line supervisor
16 college programs and 1,570 schools train First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $106,040 median wage, 154,610 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
16 college programs at 1,570 schools train first-line supervisors of police and detectives, graduating 81,313 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Criminal Justice/Safety Studies. The job pays a median of $106,040 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About first-line supervisors of police and detectives
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of members of police force.
Best programs to study to become a first-line supervisor
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 43.0104 | 40,687 | 50.0% | 824 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 2 | CIP 43.0103 | 26,068 | 32.1% | 650 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 3 | CIP 43.0102 | 3,804 | 4.7% | 147 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 4 | CIP 43.0301 | 2,784 | 3.4% | 102 | $46,281 | $23,250 |
| 5 | CIP 43.0302 | 2,762 | 3.4% | 152 | $46,281 | $23,250 |
| 6 | CIP 43.0100 | 2,344 | 2.9% | 75 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 7 | CIP 43.0404 | 1,710 | 2.1% | 66 | $40,889 | $25,000 |
| 8 | CIP 43.0303 | 568 | 0.7% | 25 | $46,281 | $23,250 |
| 9 | CIP 03.0208 | 222 | 0.3% | 21 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
| 10 | CIP 43.0304 | 178 | 0.2% | 14 | $46,281 | $23,250 |
| 11 | CIP 43.0401 | 60 | 0.1% | 6 | $40,889 | $25,000 |
| 12 | CIP 43.0120 | 42 | 0.1% | 6 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 13 | Signal/Geospatial Intelligencemain feeder CIP 29.0203 | 35 | 0.0% | 7 | $56,755 | $24,878 |
| 14 | CIP 43.0119 | 29 | 0.0% | 2 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 15 | CIP 43.0407 | 19 | 0.0% | 6 | $40,889 | $25,000 |
| 16 | CIP 43.0499 | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $40,889 | $25,000 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What first-line supervisors of police and detectives earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $163,960 | 13,200 | 0.73× | 140 | 11,708 |
| Texas | $111,000 | 5,540 | 0.40× | 92 | 7,192 |
| Florida | $100,880 | 9,900 | 1.00× | 63 | 5,424 |
| Arizona | $104,850 | 2,790 | 0.87× | 26 | 4,876 |
| New York | $124,080 | 12,750 | 1.32× | 83 | 4,611 |
| Virginia | $101,230 | 3,750 | 0.92× | 48 | 4,123 |
| Georgia | $80,120 | 7,910 | 1.63× | 61 | 3,224 |
| North Carolina | $91,100 | 4,820 | 0.98× | 93 | 2,988 |
| Pennsylvania | $102,400 | 5,690 | 0.94× | 85 | 2,553 |
| Indiana | $81,540 | 1,700 | 0.53× | 29 | 2,524 |
| West Virginia | $74,280 | 490 | 0.70× | 22 | 1,886 |
| Illinois | $135,080 | 4,900 | 0.81× | 45 | 1,862 |
| Massachusetts | $104,320 | 5,540 | 1.53× | 38 | 1,747 |
| New Jersey | $142,990 | 7,650 | 1.80× | 30 | 1,727 |
| Ohio | $98,380 | 5,170 | 0.94× | 61 | 1,610 |
| Colorado | $126,810 | 2,790 | 0.98× | 20 | 1,529 |
| Alabama | $75,970 | 1,900 | 0.91× | 17 | 1,377 |
| Maryland | $120,700 | 6,700 | 2.44× | 16 | 1,377 |
| Kentucky | $80,390 | 1,600 | 0.81× | 32 | 1,339 |
| Michigan | $98,140 | 3,290 | 0.75× | 42 | 1,274 |
| South Carolina | $73,700 | 1,560 | 0.68× | 39 | 1,079 |
| Utah | $110,500 | 1,360 | 0.79× | 9 | 1,066 |
| Louisiana | $70,470 | 3,120 | 1.62× | 24 | 1,005 |
| Tennessee | $74,770 | 4,430 | 1.36× | 42 | 997 |
| Missouri | $94,440 | 3,490 | 1.20× | 31 | 912 |
| Iowa | $98,840 | 1,370 | 0.88× | 28 | 827 |
| Connecticut | $109,360 | 2,240 | 1.33× | 11 | 798 |
| Arkansas | $62,290 | 2,100 | 1.62× | 32 | 774 |
| Wisconsin | $97,120 | 2,080 | 0.71× | 32 | 748 |
| Nevada | $132,100 | 1,300 | 0.84× | 8 | 742 |
| Minnesota | $118,750 | 2,870 | 0.98× | 31 | 727 |
| Nebraska | $106,100 | 730 | 0.72× | 15 | 722 |
| District of Columbia | $134,760 | 1,230 | 1.77× | 8 | 547 |
| Oklahoma | $82,830 | 2,420 | 1.43× | 24 | 491 |
| New Mexico | $92,200 | 1,320 | 1.53× | 19 | 476 |
| Mississippi | $59,860 | 2,060 | 1.79× | 16 | 471 |
| Idaho | $94,920 | 930 | 1.09× | 8 | 428 |
| Washington | $136,280 | 2,750 | 0.78× | 23 | 419 |
| Kansas | $82,950 | 2,330 | 1.63× | 18 | 368 |
| Rhode Island | $97,690 | 820 | 1.65× | 6 | 286 |
| Maine | $92,350 | 440 | 0.70× | 12 | 253 |
| New Hampshire | $100,060 | 940 | 1.39× | 11 | 250 |
| Oregon | $122,130 | 1,470 | 0.75× | 12 | 219 |
| North Dakota | $98,300 | 440 | 1.03× | 10 | 198 |
| South Dakota | $87,810 | 190 | 0.42× | 10 | 159 |
| Vermontmoderate | $99,280 | 210 | 0.70× | 4 | 127 |
| Wyoming | $91,400 | 430 | 1.54× | 8 | 119 |
| Delaware | $131,080 | 410 | 0.85× | 5 | 115 |
| Hawaiimoderate | $140,590 | 700 | 1.12× | 3 | 111 |
| Alaskalimited | $137,320 | 320 | 0.99× | 2 | 80 |
| Montana | $89,380 | 450 | 0.89× | 6 | 38 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Supervise and coordinate the investigation of criminal cases, offering guidance and expertise to investigators, and ensuring that procedures are conducted in accordance with laws and regulations.
- Prepare work schedules and assign duties to subordinates.
- Direct collection, preparation, and handling of evidence and personal property of prisoners.
- Investigate and resolve personnel problems within organization and charges of misconduct against staff.
- Explain police operations to subordinates to assist them in performing their job duties.
- Maintain logs, prepare reports, and direct the preparation, handling, and maintenance of departmental records.
- Inform personnel of changes in regulations and policies, implications of new or amended laws, and new techniques of police work.
- Train staff in proper police work procedures.
Skills
- Monitoring4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Speaking4.0
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Active Learning3.9
- Learning Strategies3.8
- Writing3.8
Knowledge areas
- Public Safety and Security4.7
- Law and Government4.5
- Customer and Personal Service4.4
- Administration and Management4.0
- English Language3.8
- Psychology3.8
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Oral Expression4.0
- Problem Sensitivity4.0
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Deductive Reasoning3.9
- Inductive Reasoning3.9
Core activities
- Getting Information4.7
- Documenting/Recording Information4.5
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.4
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.3
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public4.3
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.2
How to get in
How to become a First-Line Supervisor
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 19 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives16 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
- 29.0203Signal/Geospatial Intelligence
- 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
- 43.0102Corrections
- 43.0103Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration
- 43.0104Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
- 43.0115Law Enforcement Record-Keeping and Evidence Management(no graduates reported)
- 43.0119Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations
- 43.0120Protective Services Operations
- 43.0122Maritime Law Enforcement(no graduates reported)
- 43.0123Cultural/Archaelogical Resources Protection(no graduates reported)
- 43.0301Homeland Security
- 43.0302Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management
- 43.0303Critical Infrastructure Protection
- 43.0304Terrorism and Counterterrorism Operations
- 43.0401Security Science and Technology, General
- 43.0404Cybersecurity Defense Strategy/Policy
- 43.0407Geospatial Intelligence
- 43.0499Security Science and Technology, Other
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a First-Line Supervisors of police officer?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Criminal Justice/Safety Studies, which awarded 40,687 degrees in 2024-25, 50.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of police officer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 16 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections, Homeland Security, Security Science and Technology, Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 81,313 people a year.
How much do first-line supervisors of police and detectives earn?+
The median is $106,040 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $63,350 at the 10th percentile to $165,110 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for first-line supervisors of police and detectives growing?+
BLS projects a +2.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
1,570 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 16 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do first-line supervisors of police and detectives work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Lieutenant, Police Captain, Patrol Sergeant, Police Sergeant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-1012.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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